The Minnesota Wild took on the San Jose Sharks for the second time this season on the road in San Jose on Saturday, Jan. 12. It was the first game of the Wild’s back-to-back, and although they looked a bit off the whole game, they came out with the 3-1 win. They were still without their leading scorer, Kirill Kaprizov, plus Jakub Lauko, and a big part of their defense in Brock Faber, Jared Spurgeon, and Jonas Brodin.
Marc-André Fleury was in the net, as it was expected Filip Gustavsson would be in the net the following day for their game against the Vegas Golden Knights. Fleury stood strong and was one of the main reasons the Wild came out with the win. In this article, we’ll look at how they came out on top, starting with the top line shining.
Wild’s Top Line Shines Again
Even with Kaprizov out of the lineup, the top line has found a way to shine, mainly Marco Rossi. He’s been on fire, scoring 11 points in the past 10 games, including a goal against the Sharks. While Rossi started the scoring, his linemate Matt Boldy was behind him with a goal and an assist.
That just left Mats Zuccarello, who has been on fire almost more than Rossi, with 12 points in the past 10 games. He scored a goal and assisted on both of his linemates’ goals, for two assists and three points against the Sharks. This line has been finding new ways to click and score goals, and hopefully, they can continue to do so consistently as they set the example for the rest of the team.
While this line has found a way to succeed without their top scorer, what will they do when he’s back in the lineup? Zuccarello, Kaprizov, and Rossi will likely be united, which means Boldy would drop to the second line with Joel Eriksson Ek. Hopefully, that could spark both of those players as well.
Wild’s Fleury Steps Up
Outside of the scorers, Fleury kept the Wild in the game and definitely earned top-star status for his 36 saves that kept the score going his team’s way. While Gustavsson has done very well this season, when they’ve needed to rely on Fleury, he’s stepped up and done what’s been needed. They’ve both had their off games, but typically, it’s only one game, and by the time they’re in the net again, they’ve gotten back to their usual self.
Against the Sharks, Fleury’s teammates struggled to keep the puck in the offensive zone, but he made save after save. He was even more aggressive than normal as he jumped out of the net a few times to cut off the Sharks’ forward, who was trying to get the advantage. With Fleury’s aggressiveness, he ensured his team maintained possession and took away some scoring chances that helped secure the win.
Wild Struggle With Possession
In their previous game, a 6-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche at home, head coach John Hynes talked about how the Wild had some good chances but didn’t capitalize and said the same thing about the Avalanche, but the difference was the Avalanche did convert. The same could be said about the Wild’s game against the Sharks; they didn’t have many chances, but they were able to convert on the ones they did.
That is how they came out with the win despite being outshot and outplayed for most of the game. They took advantage of most of their good chances, and the puck went into the net. They didn’t play their absolute worst, but it could’ve been much worse. They had the right things fall into place at the right time to get the win.
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While they got the win, hopefully, this performance was just a one-off, and they’ll get back to playing the way everyone expects despite having so many players missing. It’ll be interesting to see how they bounce back and try to get the win against the Golden Knights.
Wild Face Golden Knights
The Wild won’t have much time to take in this win as they have less than 24 hours before they have to play again, this time against the Golden Knights. Their last meeting went to the Golden Knights 3-2 in St. Paul back in December, and the Wild will have to play much better if they expect to get past the Golden Knights for the first time this season.
